The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-10-08
THE FORGED CHECK.
How Charley Stanford's Innocence
Was Proven.


gagged 10 be married. That might or
might not have been the reason why ]
refused 10 believe him guilty Of the
crime Of forgery, Of which he stood ac-
cuscd, and for the commission Of which
he was lying in prison awaiting trial.
! did not believe in his guilt. but /
seemed the only one 10 have doubted,
and | was but a poor scamstrcss, with
neither money nor influence; so it was
likely to go hard with Charley Stan
ford
was 80 poor that could not spare
day from labor 10 comfort him. !
managed 10 send him word that ] be-
licvcd In his innocence. II was all |
could do, and then | went To Mr.. La
mont's 10 fulfill an engagement for
work. ! went out by the day on week,
aud Mrs Lamont. though n rich lady,
was not above the economy Of employ
ing me.
don't know that it would have
made any difference 10 her If She had
known that | was engaged to Charley
Stanford, but she did ,Ot know il, and
il was her husbands name that my
unfortunate lover was accused of
forging.
Mrs Lamont had never heard of me;
bat had heard of her, when She was
not the grand lady she was now.
She was II Miss Rycrson before her
marriage. and Mr. Lamont and Charley
had lodged with her mother. Mr. La
mont, though wealthy man, was II
plain man. and did not scOru the faro
that was good enough for his clerk.
may rs well explain here that
Charley was the son of IN old friend of
Mr. Lannon'S, and that the merchant
had had taken a fancy To him, which
was likely 10 be- of great advantage to
him. when this unlucky charge was
made, which IL seemed more than prob
able would shipwrrck name. fame and
prospects.
often heard Charley mention Miss
Rycrson, who was snowy. handsome
girl, bat lac never spoke aS though he
liked her, and | more than guessed
that il was her fault if he did not.
Charley was very fine looking
what we women call splendid looking
fellow; aud though he never said as
much To me Che was too honorable and
dolicatc), ! think that in those days
Miss Rycrson liked the merchants
clerk great deal better than She liked
the merchant
Mr. Lamont, on the contrary. con-
cciNcd violent passion for Miss Rycr-
son, and she married him, for the sake
Of his money, of course.
Thus much of Charlcy's relations
with the Lannon'S.
He could have nothing Ia gain in
committing such u crime mc-nothing;
that is, compared to what hc ran the
risk of losing through discovery. Yet
the evidence against him was powerful
enough To convince of his guilt II man
who would naturall, be reluctant TO
believe such n thing of him; and un-
less some unlocked for event occurred
TO disproyc that evidence, IL must con-
Wet him in n court of justice.
The forged check had been presented
ut the bank and caShcd just before
banking hours were over. and the
cashier could tell nothing rs 10 who
presented it. beyond II general iApres-
sion that it was young man. with
heavy black whskcrS and mustacho
like Charley. In short, being accus-
toned To cash Mr.. Lannon'S drafts
through Charley. he had not observed
but that il was he who presented this
one; but could not swear either way.
The forged check bore about rs
strong resemblance To Charlcy'S
hand as to Mr.. Lannon'S. when you
looked n second time; and Mrs. Lamont
produced something the houscmaid had
found in Charlcy's room, some torn
sheets of paper, scrawlcd Overland over,
with Mr.. Lnmout'S name written upon,
just rs il was on the forged check.
They found more Of such specimens In
Charlcy's trunk. and roll of bank
notes. which Charley denied all kuowl-
edge of, a. well rs the sheets oi paper
with Mr.. Lamont's name ON them.
had plenty To think of while | sat
there in Mrs. Lannon'S back parlor,
sewing; and sometimes of an evening
Mr.. Lamont came in and sat talking
over Charlcy's case with his wife, So
unconscious of mo and my ncarncSs
to Charley. tha. | could scarcely bear
it, | noticed in these talks that Mr..
Lamont lcaut towards Charley with
some kindness still, aud would have
explained the things against him
il he could hut his wife took
an entirely opposite view Of the matter.
and, could see, influenced her husband
Gy her representations. She laughed
scornfully ut the supposition that
Charley was, after all. innoccnt She
told her husband no had been shame
fully deceived and imposed upon by
my brave, upright lover; that she had
suspected all along that he was bestow-
ing his confidence aud kindness on one
who knew not how to appreciate IL.
OF course. the poor seamstress was
not allowed to be any hndrance 10
these talks, and Mrs. Lamont had a
fancy TO overlook my sewing herself.
| suspected that her husband kept her
on far shorter allowance Of pocket
money than she expected when she
married him. and that was why she